It's been awhile!

So, I took a little hiatus from this blog. I'm really not sure how it happened except that life with two energetic boys is BUSY! :) But here we are at the beginning of a new year and I'm trying lots of new recipes again. This week I've been inspired by a "diet" we are doing. I put that in quotes because it is part of an Herbal Cleanse (by Advocare) that we are hoping to survive and there are a few BIG restrictions on what we can eat for the 10 days of the cleanse. We are on day 4 and the hardest restrictions to work around are the "no dairy" (including cheese) and "no vinegar" restrictions. The no vinegar thing rules out salad dressings and I just am not a bare salad kind of girl. There's also no white foods (pasta, rice, bread, etc), no mushrooms, no fatty foods, no fast foods, no fried foods, no processed foods, etc. :) I bet you're wondering what we CAN eat. Yeah, me too. We're on day 4 and I'm still trying to figure that out.

I was told we CAN have "TONS" of fresh fruits and veggies, soy milk and cheese, whole grain rice and pasta, 100% whole wheat bread, chicken, fish, and lots of water (among other things...I am going with the assumption that if it doesn't fall into any of the categories described in the NO list that its also free game).

So, this has forced me to get creative with our meals. Tonight I'm sharing our omelet dinner recipe, which was actually pretty good. Not SO-GREAT-WE'LL-BE-EATING-THIS-TWICE-A-WEEK, but pretty good nonetheless.

It was Omelet with Summer Vegetables served with a side of berries (I LOVE berries).

YUM - 3 1/2 stars - It was very yummy but I usually like my omelets with lots of greasy meats. :) The berries get 5 stars even though they were expensively out of season.

EASE - 4 stars - A little chopping involved and you have to separate eggs, but that is the worst of it.

HEALTH - 5 stars - May be one of the healthiest meals I've posted on here.


Ingredients

* Cooking spray
* 2/3 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
* 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
* 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
* 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
* 2 tablespoons water
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 3 large egg whites
* 1 large egg
* 2 tablespoons shredded smoked Gouda cheese (I used soy Veggie Shreds)

Preparation

Heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add corn, zucchini, onions, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from heat.

Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine 1/8 teaspoon salt, water, pepper, egg whites, and egg, stirring well with a whisk. Coat pan with cooking spray. Pour egg mixture into pan; cook until edges begin to set (about 2 minutes). Gently lift the edges of omelet with a spatula, tilting pan to allow uncooked egg mixture to come in contact with pan. Spoon corn mixture onto half of omelet; sprinkle corn mixture with cheese. Loosen omelet with a spatula, and fold in half over corn mixture. Cook 2 minutes or until the cheese melts. Carefully slide omelet onto a plate.

Nutritional Information

Calories:
281 (33% from fat)
Fat:
10.3g (sat 4.3g,mono 3.4g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:
24.8g
Carbohydrate:
25.3g
Fiber:
4.2g
Cholesterol:
229mg
Iron:
2.1mg
Sodium:
947mg
Calcium:
162mg

Karen Levin, Cooking Light, JULY 2004

I must say I'm looking forward to our date night after this 10 days is over. We'll still be "good" but just not THAT good. :)

Hopefully there is more to come soon....

#2 - Thai Pork with Red Curry

YUM - 5 stars, VERY YUMMY!! Even a certain someone, who shall remain nameless but who doesn't like curry or coconut, liked this dish. Love you, Kelly! (oops...was that out loud?) Okay, so if you don't like Thai curry dishes you may noy like this as well as we did. Oh. and I forgot the cilantro at the end. I'm not sure how that would have affected this rating.

EASE - 4 stars, Pretty Dern Easy. Crock-pot just spells easy to me. :) However, I did have to chop up my pork (next time I'll probably just invest in the pre-chopped stuff) and then you have to brown it a third at a time. But, otherwise, it was chop, mix, done.

HEALTH - 4 stars, Perty Healthy. This recipe is from the magazine All You and is pretty good calorie-wise per serving. The fat content is a bit on the high side but it is great for a low-carb diet. I served it over rice so that would be the only addition to the included cals and carbs.

Thai Pork with Red Curry
Source - All You at www.myrecipes.com


Ingredients

* 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
* 1 (14 oz.) can reduced-fat coconut milk
* 1 onion, thickly sliced
* 1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced lengthwise
* 1 (8 oz.) package white mushrooms, quartered
* 2 tablespoons red curry paste
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder, cubed
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 cup chopped cilantro

Preparation

Stir in 3/4 cup chicken broth, coconut milk, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and curry paste to a slow cooker.

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork cubes with salt and pepper and add a third of pork to skillet. Brown meat for 6 minutes. Transfer pork to slow cooker. Repeat with remaining 2 batches of pork and 2 Tbsp. oil.

Pour remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth into skillet, scraping bottom of pan to incorporate browned bits; stir this liquid into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 5 hours. Using a slotted spoon, skim grease off top prior to serving.

Sprinkle cilantro on stew; Serve over rice, if desired.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
450
Fat:
28g (sat 10g)
Protein:
40g
Carbohydrate:
8g
Fiber:
2g
Cholesterol:
129mg
Sodium:
434mg

All You, APRIL 2006

First recipe - Chicken Tamale Casserole

YUM - 5 stars, VERY YUMMY. Peter loves spicy food and this was just up his alley. If you or your kids don't like things very spicy this might not be the dish for you. It was perfect for me (not TOO spicy) but you could probably make it milder by leaving out the red pepper or using milder chiles.

EASE - 5 stars, SUPER EASY. And quick (especially when the chicken is already cooked and ready to go)!! A perfect weeknight meal.

HEALTH - 4 stars, VERY HEALTHY. Its a Cooking Light recipe! It has to be healthy. :) Except that you will want more than the allotted serving so it ends up being less healthy than advertised. :)

Chicken Tamale Casserole
Source - Cooking Light on www.myrecipes.com

Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients

* 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
* 1/3 cup fat-free milk
* 1/4 cup egg substitute
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
* 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
* 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
* Cooking spray
* 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
* 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
* 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
354 (36% from fat)
Fat:
14.1g (sat 7.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.2g)
Protein:
18.9g
Carbohydrate:
36.3g
Fiber:
2.5g
Cholesterol:
58mg
Iron:
1.7mg
Sodium:
620mg
Calcium:
179mg

Risë Minton, Smyrna, GA, Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2008